From Sap to Syrup... We hope!

If you stand in our yard right now and you are very quiet, you may hear the pinging sound of sap hitting the metal buckets hanging from three of our maple trees. It is a beautiful rhythmic sound and it makes me smile becasue this is BP and her Daddy's little project. With a drill, five taps, five buckets and their fingers crossed they tapped three trees and have been collecting sap for two days now. Eventually, if the weather cooperates (cold nights and warm days are needed) they will boil the sap until we have syrup for our pancakes. Their is nothing like REAL maple syrup on pancakes. Once you have the real stuff you can never buy Aunt Jemima again!!! Their is no comparison.
This project is right up BP's alley. She loves to be outside and she loves to check the progress of her trees all day long. She even likes to taste the sap, which some people drink for energy, we recently learned. The Barefoot Baby comes along in her stroller and is slowly getting used to the great outdoors. (Being born in November didn't give her much outside time for the first few months of her life.)
I will take more pictures as the project progresses. I wish I could capture the excitement on BP's face as she runs to each tree and waits for us to pick her up and show her the sap. It is priceless and makes me want to stop time and keep her two and a half forever!

Easter...

The Barefoot Princess and Daddy

The Barefoot Baby and Abby

BP, her big cousin Kelsey, and Kelsey's Bitty Baby

Olivia, BP, Bitty, and Mark

Easter Morning

The Barefoot Baby and The Barefoot Princess discovering their Easter treats that the bunny left for them!

So Cool...

The Barefoot Baby... you don't get much cooler than this!

Thanks to Uncle T's friend Brian for playing with BB and sharing his shades.

Egg Hunt

Last Saturday we joined some friends at a county park for an Easter egg hunt. It was a little disappointing in terms of egg gathering for The Barefoot Princess. Three seconds after the preschoolers were told to pick up the eggs they were ALL GONE!!! Thank heavens Buby's Dad thought fast and got some from the egg exchange center for BP and Buby becasuse we would have had a very disappointed little girl. She wound up with two eggs and two golfballs in her basket and was delighted! I am not sure if she liked the eggs or the golfballs more???

The first picture shows BP upon our arrival, ready to hunt for eggs. The second picture shows BP and Buby playing in the 'big sandbox' as BP cals it, otherwise known as a beach volleybal court. The final picture shows BP with a mouth full of chocolate egg on the way home, just before she fell itno a deep slumber.

Bunny # 19

The FINAL bunny and I saved the BEST for last. It is a felted wool Peter Rabbit. I love Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and all the other characters too, but Peter is definitely my favorite. I love his wild spirit and the classic stories that go along with him. (This bunny was found on Etsy)

Bunny # 18

This bunny would make the perfect centerpiece for your Easter table. I found this on marthastewart.com along with the previously mentioned bunny napkins. Put the two together and you would have an impressive combination. Just add some little pots of flowers and your table is complete.

Bunny #17

These two barettes are from Out-for-Tea. I found this store on-line while looking for some hair "bows", as The Barefoot Princess calls them. BP just now after almost two and a hlaf years can wear some of these in her hair! I am so excited I want to throw a party! So of course when I saw the little brown bunny barette and the carrot I thought of the bunny posts, but there were soooo... many adorable options. I will dedicate a later post to the others. So more to come from out-to-tea.com!

The Barefoot Baby...Then and Now

In four months time look at the difference! Same car seat, same baby, I promise!

The top picture was the day we brought her home from the hospital... November 6th

The bottom picture was after a long roap trip... March 6th

Special Donkeys...

These two little Donkeys, mommy and baby, live down the road from that first apartment I mentioned in the IKEA post below. Uncle Matt and Aunt Nicole also lived in that apartment for a short time after we did. It is a special place to all of us. It was more of a cottage, a VERY TINY cottage, on a breathtakingly beautiful farm in the heart of high class horse country. (Think of a Polo Ralph Lauren ad everywhere you look) Anyway, we used to walk down the dirt road to visit these donkeys all the time. After lunch on Saturday we took BP and BB to see them and to our surprise there was a baby donkey. It was so cute how the baby donkey kept resting its head on the mommy, nuzzling the mommy, and nursing. BP's response was, "the baby is drinking the mommy's milk."

IKEA

Saturday morning we bravely headed to IKEA with both The Barefoot Princess and The Barefoot Baby. We knew what we needed and had a plan. So we crossed our fingers and said a little prayer that everything would go smoothly. IKEA can be a little overwhelming with crowds of people, lines, waiting for pick up, and so much to look at. BP rode on the push cart while BB was in the stroller. It was a successful mission and we now have a new white pedestal table with four white French country chairs in our kitchen. We have waited about 7 years to replace the set I garbage picked for our first apartment. I owe BP and BB's Daddy big time because it took five hours to put the set together, but as the IKEA catalog boldly states on the front... Home is the Most Important Place in the World!

Bunny # 16

If you can see it under her hand, this is the pink bunny cookie The Barefoot Princess conned Uncle 'Mack' into buying her at lunch on Saturday. First she chose the yellow happy face and then asked him for the pink bunny. Uncle 'Mack' proved to be a real softie and could not refuse BP's charm. He caved and got her the pink bunny too! She was elated!

A special thanks to BP's Daddy for teaching her to wrinkle her nose when she smiles when she was like 9 months old. All my recent pictures seem to have the wrinkled nose!

Bunny # 15

A bunny toy from Chasing Fireflies. I love wooden toys and of course this one caught my eye immediately. So simple and cute!

Happy St. Patrick"s Day!!!

For me today is better and bigger than Christmas! I LOVE St. Patrick's Day! (My husband thinks I am insane) I think it is because of my heritage, but also because in my mind it also signifies the beginning of Spring. I can never remember a St. Patrick's Day that was not sunny and cheerful, like today is. So last night The Barefoot Princess and I made Irish Soda Bread and right now we have 1 corned beef in the oven and 1 in the crock pot. I am trying a new recipe this year, Thank You Keri, and tonight we are having some friends over for a traditional Irish feast. BP and BB are dressed in green with shamrocks and looking very festive today and I swear BP's hair had a hint of red today that is not their every other day! Maybe it was the bright sunshine? On the way to the gym this mroning we listened to Irish tunes and like her father she thought I was crazy too, but then she decided on the way home that she liked 'The Unicorn Song'.

So Happy St. Patrick's Day and enjoy a little corned Beef, cabbage, soda bread and of course it would not be St. Patrick's Day without a little Guiness or Bailey's.

Lancaster

The Barefoot Family spent last weekend in the heart of Amish country in Lancaster, Pennsylvannia. Well, it was not just us, but also some of our good friends and family too. It is a yearly tradition and I think this was the eighth year we made the pilgrimage to Lancaster. The Barefoot Princess has been four times including year one in my belly, and The Barefoot Baby has been twice including her belly year. While we are there for three days we first fill almost a whole hotel with our group, then we eat, attend an Amish auction, eat some more, shop, drive around, eat more, visit Amish friends, eat some more, and have lots of laughs! You cannot beat the down home cooking in this part of Pennsylvania. Don't even go there attempting to diet because one look at the homemade pies or whoopie pies and it is all over. The Barefoot Dad tried to propose to a young Amish girl when he bought and tasted a slice of chocolate cream pie!

This year the auction, which is called The Gordonville Mud Sales, was VERY MUDDY to put it mildly. I almost lost The Barefoot Princess in a mud puddle when we were looking at a playhouse in the field. If you are in the market for an Amish made quilt they normally have about 500 if them. If you need a new buggy, they have about 100 of them. If you should need a workhorse to plow your field or a trotter to pull the buggy, they have those too. There were two tents full of antiques and crafts and how could I forget the field full of farm equiptment. Apparently this was the year to buy... because the rain kept the big crowds away and you could get some really good deals.

We only spent a couple hours at the auction, the rain scared us away, I guess, and then we went to The Strasburg Railroad. At the railroad we took a train ride and went through the museum. The Barefoot Princess, who I have previously mentioned is a big Tommy (Thomas the Train) fan thought this was way cool!

After the railroad, in an attempt to get BP to take a nap, we drove to find an Amish man who makes playhouses. (Our friends spotted the playhouse earlier in the day and knew BP's Daddy was in the market for one.) We found the playhouse and the nicest young Amish man who made it and since BP was not sleeping we let her check it out. The playhouse was built better than most houses I have recently looked at with our realtor. It was adorable with a Dutch door, window boxes, shutters and even a little reading loft! We were sold and just have to let the man know what design and size we would like.

Then we were off to visit some Amish friends, Katie and Abie. After a very short visit (Katie's mom who was staying with them was not feeling well) we had a big pizza party back at the motel.

Above are some pictures from the weekend....

Elsie Beiler

Elsie Beiler is a very talented artist we found last year on our trip to Lancaster. She lives in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania and started painting after the Nickel Mines school tragedy in 2006. She was deeply affected by the shootings that took place at the Nickel Mines Amish School and wanted to paint the school as she remembered it in happier times. The first painting, titled 'Happier Days,' hangs in The Barefoot Princess' room and ironically the tragedy occured on her first birthday, October 2, 2006. The second painting, called 'Friends Forever,' is a painting of the five girls who lost their lives that day. Elsie Beiler says it was prayers and tears that mixed with her paints to create these two peices of art. I love both of these paintings, not just because they are beautiful, but also because they show such bonds of friendship and remind me of forgiveness. The Amish people were so forgiving after they had been hurt so deeply.

To find out more about Elsie Beiler or to purchase prints you can go to http://www.wengergallery.com/

Bunny #14

A classic bunny and Easter story. I found this the other day and realized that I do not have a copy of this one. I cannot believe it. As a teacher I always used the liabray's copy. I must get this for BP and BB for Easter this year!

Daisy

This perfume screams Spring to me! I absolutely LOVE the bottle. I just went to the Marc Jacobs website and ordered a free sample. This may be my new Sprin/ Summer scent???

Bunny #13

This bunny is one you can bake if you buy the Williams-Sonoma cake mold. With a little creativity and a whole lot of talent it may just look like this one??? I am not sure I could eat it after working so hard to create it.

Bunny #12

A chocolate Easter bunny guaranteed not to melt or make your waistline expand. These bunnies from Mahar Drygoods would be a great gift or a fun addition to your Easter basket!

Same Age, Same Place

A bunny banner for your fireplace. I found this on Etsy, my new favorite place to browse, and immediately thought it would be perfect for the bunny posts. I love the heirloom look of it and there are other options too. I also like the one that spells E-A-S-T-E-R.

Bunny #11

Another bunny item from Chasing Fireflies. This adorable little pink shirt with a gold screened bunny would be perfect for any little girl this Easter!

17 lbs. 7 ozs.

17.7 lbs. of pure happiness, drool, smiles, coos, snuggles, wrinkles, rolls and soft baby skin!!!

The Barefoot Baby had her four month well visit this morning and she is doing great! She did not like the shots, but with Daddy and The Barefoot Princess there for support she made it through. She is healthy and happy and developing as she should. Our pediatrician told us we could start feeding her stage one foods. She is very happy about that!

Bunny #10

Today's bunnies are Heff's (not sure if it is one f or two?) three bunnies from the television show The Girls Nextdoor, which I totally admit to watching. What can I say it makes me laugh! From left to right Holly, Kendra and Bridget.
This post was for those that were bored with the traditional bunnies.

Bunny #9

A napkin bunny from Martha Stewart. This can be found on her website with directions on how to fold and create your own napkin bunnies. Sure to impress all of your Easter guests if you accomplish this. Personally, I love to fold napkins and can fold three different styles so I am determined to figure this one out too!

March Madras

Madras, a style I have always loved, is a trend this Spring! I bought this madras bag at J. Crew this past weekend and I intend to use it as a diaper bag as soon as the weather gets a little nicer. Fingers crossed that it will be very soon! Love the shorts too!